10 Oscar Winning Performances That Are Actually Terrible

10. Sean Penn - Mystic River

Sean Penn won his first Best Actor Oscar for playing an ex-con whose daughter is murdered in Clint Eastwood's searing 2003 drama.

It wasn't a particularly competitive year for the award, in fairness, with only Bill Murray (Lost in Translation) putting up much of a fight, but even so, Penn's larger-than-life performance frequently lurches into unintentionally hilarious, distractingly hammy territory.

The "Is that my daughter in there?" scene, largely credited with winning Penn the Oscar, is an embarrassing act of scenery munching on the actor's part. By the time a fleet of cops are piling on him as he wails in anguish, it's hard not to laugh at what should be an absolutely mortifying scene.

Murray should've won that year, really, all the more so as he'll probably get another chance. Penn gave a far better performance for his second Oscar win in Milk, even if he robbed Mickey Rourke of a well-deserved gong.